VANCOUVER - The city has purchased an old auto shop at 1700 Kingsway with an eye to developing it into 70 social housing units, Mayor Sam Sullivan announced Thursday.

The site, bought for $1.3 million, doesn't yet have a construction start-date attached to it, he said. The city will have to secure funding partnerships with either the private sector or the federal and provincial governments before the building, which will include social services and retail outlets, will be developed.

"This is the golden age of investment in social housing right now," said Sullivan.

Laura Track, a lawyer with Downtown Pivot Legal Society, which acts as an advocate for people in the Downtown Eastside, said the new project is welcome, particularly since it stands outside the poverty-stricken neighbourhood.

But 70 new units won't come close to fixing the problem of homelessness, she said. "It's a drop in the bucket."

Homeless count figures put the number of people living on the streets at 1,547.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008